The present invention relates to a disc reproducing apparatus.
In general, a compact disc (hereinafter referred to as disc) has a diameter of 12 cm and a thickness of 1.2 mm. The information recorded on the disc is reproduced continuously from its inner circumferential area to its outer circumferential area.
There have been known several types of disc reproducing apparatus which can accommodate a plurality of discs, and can select one disc therefrom so as to reproduce the same. One type of disc reproducing apparatus has a structure in which a detachable magazine accommodating a plurality of discs is at first installed into the apparatus, and one disc is then selected therefrom when it is to be reproduced.
Recently, an improved type of disc reproducing apparatus has been disclosed by Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-21186, which is so fabricated that a magazine accommodating a plurality of discs (with each disc surface arranged in a horizontal position) may be moved in the vertical direction in order that one disc may be selected therefrom so as to be reproduced. In detail, the disc magazine is moved as a whole so that a selected disc is raised to a correct the height at which a disc reproducing means stays. After that, the selected disc is moved horizontally into the disc reproducing means so as to be reproduced.
However, with the above disc reproducing device, when a desired disc is to be selected from a plurality of discs, the disc magazine as a whole has to be moved in the vertical direction. This, however, requires a considerable driving force and hence a considerable load will be exerted on a transporting mechanism for transporting the entire disc magazine carrying all these discs.
Further, since the disc magazine has to be moved in the vertical direction to cause the selected disc to arrive at a correct height at which the disc reproducing means stays, various elements forming the transporting mechanism has to be prepared and assembled together with an extremely high precision, hence making it difficult to reduce a cost for manufacturing the disc reproducing apparatus. Moreover, even if the various elements forming the transporting mechanism are prepared and assembled properly with a high precision, it will still be occasionally difficult to enable a selected disc to arrive at exactly the correct height with respect to a disc reproducing means.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved disc reproducing apparatus which is allowed to reduce a load exerted on a transporting mechanism, and can enable a selected disc to move to a correct height with respect to a reproducing means, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems peculiar to the above-discussed prior art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a disc reproducing apparatus which comprises a disc holder for receiving a plurality of discs, a disc transporting means for transporting a disc inserted from outside into the disc holder, and a disc reproducing means for reproducing a disc selected from the plurality of discs received in the disc holder. The disc holder includes a plurality of trays each for mounting one disc, guide means allowing the trays to move only in tray arranging direct ion, a fixed bottom plate for supporting the plurality of trays, a movable top plate movable only in the tray arranging direction by virtue of the guide means. Further, the movable top plate is urged towards the fixed bottom plate by virtue of urging means.
In one aspect of the present invention, said apparatus includes tray holding means for holding a tray selected from the plurality of the trays, and moving means for moving the tray holding means to a predetermined height in the tray arranging direction. In particular, the predetermined height is a height for completing a desired disc transportation by using the disc transporting means, or a height for reproducing a selected disc by using the disc reproducing means.
In another aspect of the present invention, the tray holding means and the disc reproducing means are integrally moved in the tray arranging direction by virtue of the moving means.
In a further aspect of the present invention, said apparatus further includes a tray pressing means movable between a contact position for contacting the trays and a non-contact position separated from the trays.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, when any one tray is selected from the plurality of the trays, the tray pressing means will get in contact with one or more trays located below the selected tray.
In one more aspect of the present invention, the urging means is comprised of spring members provided between the movable top plate and a fixed bottom plate, with the fixed bottom plate secured on the main chassis of the disc reproducing apparatus.
The above objects and features of the present invention will become better understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.